US, Israel Fear 'Ambiguous' Bulgarian Statement on Hezbollah - Report

The bus bombing at the Burgas airport on July 18, 2012 killed a total of seven, including 5 Israeli tourists, their Bulgarian bus driver, and the perpetrator of the attack. Photo by BGNES

Israel and the United States are waiting for an official Bulgarian statement on last year's Burgas bus bombing on Tuesday, according to an Israeli paper.

Haaretz says the two countries hope that the statement would hold Hezbollah and Iran responsible for the attack.

"The investigative report on the bombing in the Black Sea resort city of Burgas is likely to be released on Tuesday," Haaretz has claimed.

"In addition to the investigation report, Israel and the United States are also waiting for Bulgaria's official statement later on Tuesday in hopes it would hold Hezbollah and Iran responsible for the attack. The two countries fear that while the investigation's finding would be clear, Bulgaria's public statement would be ambiguous and would not name Hezbollah responsible."

The bombing at the Burgas Sarafovo airport killed 5 Israeli tourists, their Bulgarian bus driver and the perpetrator of the attack.

While Israel blamed Hezbollah and its sponsor Iran for the attack, the Bulgarians have not yet issued their final report on the matter.

The conclusions of the report are expected to have a significant impact on whether the EU finally adds Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organizations, something the US has already done and which Israel has been pushing for more than a decade. Such a move could lead to the freezing of Hezbollah's assets in Europe.